First, I would like to wish Madison a very happy first birthday! :)

Yesterday was the first day this season that the sun didn't come out all day. :( Earlier today the sun made a very brief appearance. It's now raining fairly heavily. Ryan's napping, so it is a bit relaxing to have everything quiet, except for the sound of the rain outside.

Things are calm for now. However, Larry's coming home Friday, I'm helping Sarah with the Navy ball Saturday, and there's a spouse coffee on Monday.

I would like to officially announce that Ryan and I will be in the States for most of December, and the first part of January. (Larry's not able to come with us, unfortunately.) I'm not looking forward to all the airport security stupidity, or to having Ryan cooped up for several hours on an airplane, but I am very much looking forward to visiting with family and friends.

ps - I know I really shouldn't complain... BUT! :P I just saw online that there's a new maple macchiato at Starbucks... in the States! :( I know I ought to just be grateful I'm near a Starbucks at all, but they never have the same stuff here that they do in the States. All we have here (besides the usual stuff) are the three signature hot chocolates. Last year when I was in the States for Christmas, they had a really yummy cinnamon drink. Of course they didn't have it here. Does anyone know if they still have it there? Thanks!

(And I do know in the Grand Scheme of Things, not having specific drinks is a very lame thing to complain about - especially when there are people in the world don't even have clean water. I hope everyone reading this knows I am carping with my tongue firmly in my cheek, and that I am truly grateful for the important things in life!) :)

Middleham

(This photo is also from the Middleham Castle. I thought it was a neat one.)

Larry ran the Army Ten Miler in Washington DC on Sunday. He did really well! His place was 1131, out of something like 16,000! (I'm not sure how many people actually finished the race, but 24,000 were registered to run. I got the figure of 16,000 from Larry.) His time was 1:12:19, which includes over a minute he was stopped to take off an ankle brace. In his age group he was 160 of 1383, and 994 of 8970 men. Not too shabby! (Larry will be back in England on Friday.)

Today was the first really dark morning. The sun is coming up later and later, and this morning it was rainy (it still is, actually).

Ryan and I didn't do much yesterday, except recover from all our running around. Ryan and I both took big naps! :)

Today I had an appointment on post, so Carissa watched Ryan. Ryan and I went to the commissary afterwards. It was actually foggy out at Menwith. It would be nice if the sun came out today, but it's looking like it might not. You never know, though.

Doing Business In Harrogate 

A couple of weeks ago, Larry needed some rank sewn onto his soft cap. I asked our local dry cleaner for a recommendation for a seamstress. I was directed to one that's literally right around the corner from my house. Wonderful! I take the cap and the rank over, as well as a cap that's already been done, as an example. The lady there tells me the cap will be ready the following Tuesday. I ask if she would like me to leave the other cap behind, and she says no. Tuesday rolls around and I go to pick up the cap. It's not ready. I come back the next day to find the rank has been sewn on upside down. (There was a reason I offered to leave that other cap!) I come back the next day to pick up the cap and pay for it (four freakin' pounds, which I honestly think was steep, especially considering it wasn't ready when they said it would be, AND they messed it up the first time around). I didn't have any cash on me, so I wanted to pay with a credit card. They wouldn't take my card for only four pounds! They said it would cost them money to run the card, and suggested I go get some cash. I told them it would cost me money to go use the ATM! So I left and came back the next day armed with cash Larry had gotten on post (where we don't get charged to use the ATM). You've got to love this: THEY DIDN'T HAVE CHANGE!!! (I had a ten pound note.) Honestly, before I even had set foot in the shop, I KNEW that was going to happen! At least they were bright enough not to tell me to go get change. Some hurried digging around in purses went on in the back of the shop, and they managed to dig up six pounds in change. I can say with certainty that I will definitely NOT be going back to that particular seamstress! (To top it off, the rank wasn't even centered, and Larry will at some point have to have it redone.)

A few days later, the battery in my sports watch died. I bought a new battery at the bx. I opened up my watch to try to replace the battery. It has some weird latch in it I couldn't figure out. I looked in the instructions which said, "We strongly advise having a jeweler change the battery." Hmm... So I took my watch and my battery over to a nearby jeweler. I walked into a tiny shop and walked back out again. It was one of those places that didn't have very much in the front, but all of it was antique and probably very expensive. I don't know why, but I decided to turn around and walk back in. A man came in from the back of the shop. I asked if he could replace the battery and he said yes. I asked how much, and he told me four pounds. I thought that was a bit much, but since I was there, I kind of felt committed, so I went ahead and gave the man my watch and battery.

He disappeared into the back, and in the meantime I tried to justify to myself my decision to spend four pounds having my watch battery replaced. I was very pleasantly surprised when a few minutes later, the man reappeared and told me it was only two-fifty, since I brought my own battery in.

I would like to mention that I've been seeing Christmas stuff in stores now for at least a couple of weeks now. Yikes! It's not even Halloween yet!

Ryan

Ryan did something for the first time that for some reason cracked me up: he looked at me like I was stupid. I guess it was just the thought that a two year old could look that way that did it. What did I do to bring that look on? Ryan came up to me with something in his hands and said what sounded like, "Opee." I didn't know what he wanted me to do. (Hence the look.) After a minute (and after I got done laughing at the look on his face), I realized he was saying, "Open." He wanted me to open whatever it was.

I figured that Ryan would look at me like I was stupid at some point, but I was thinking it would be more like around adolescence! I quit laughing when I realized it might have been the first time, but it certainly wouldn't be the last. I also realized it'll be progressively less funny the more it happens (which hopefully won't be very often - yet).

We've got those Baby Einstein videos. Ryan loves most of them. We were watching Baby Wordsworth, and the word "piano" came up. Ryan took his little IKEA chair and pulled it up to the coffee table. He then picked up his little four key toy piano, put it on the table, and started to play! It was really cute! He hadn't done that before.

This next item is for Larry. (He said I had to put it in my blog!) Larry was messing around with Ryan and was trying to pull Ryan's pacifier out of his mouth. Larry gave it a good tug, and a nice toot issued from Ryan's behind! :P

Larry

Thursday Ryan and I dropped Larry off at Manchester airport once again. He's got permissive tdy to run the Army Ten Miler, which took place in Washington DC today. There are 24,000 participants. It's by far the biggest race Larry's ever run in. I'm excited to hear how it went.

Protests

Friday I went on post to run a bunch of errands. On my way in, I saw someone on a corner with a big American flag turned upside down. The next day, there was a protest outside MHS. There were people with a bunch of "Peace" flags, and a bunch of upside down American flags. I hate to see stuff like that. To me, it just shows how ignorant those people are.

Weather

We've been pretty lucky with the weather, considering it's October. Wednesday was the first actual cold day here, and it hasn't been too bad since. Friday night the moon was really, really bright. We had a nice, clear night sky, which stayed that way far into the next day. We had bright sun until around 1pm, which I really enjoyed.

Middleham Castle

Saturday afternoon, Ryan and I went with Carissa and Tom and their two boys, Nathan and Thomas, to Middleham Castle. It was a gorgeous day, and a beautiful drive getting there. The castle was at one time home to Richard III. It was fun to explore. The weather held out just long enough for us to spend an hour to or so there. As we were getting ready to leave, it was starting to get dark and cloudy, cold and a bit drizzly.

We drove back to MHS and got pizza. Yum! Since I don't live on post, I almost never get to have the pizza there. It's very good!

I had a good time hanging out with Carissa and Tom, and seeing the castle. Ryan had fun running around the castle ruins, then later playing with Thomas and Nathan's toys! (I will get more photos up as soon as I can.)

Autumn Feast

(That's what they were calling it.) Today Carissa went with me and Ryan to a farmer's market in Skipton. The website said it was indoors. Carissa and I were thinking something along the lines of the Yorkshire Showgrounds. Instead it was inside a "cattle mart." I'm not sure what the proper name for it is, but it's one of those industrial barns, with cement floors and pens for animals. The floor was corrugated for drainage, which made it rough going to strollers and wheelchairs. However, there were still some interesting local vendors there, selling things like meats, cheeses, nuts, jams, etc. (I bought some cupcakes, some rum, and a couple of other odds and ends.) There were also crafts there, quilts and jewelry, etc.

Not long after we'd gotten there, a lady with a clipboard approached me and asked if Ryan would want to make pizza with a chef at a demonstration that would be taking place shortly. I thought it was odd that she'd ask, since he's so young. Then she told me she had to come up with 50 names. Ah. It becomes clear. I went ahead and signed up, just to see what it would be like. At the appointed time, we showed up and the demonstration was already in progress. There was no way Ryan and I could get near the small table that the chef was working at. It was completely crowded with all manner of little kids. There were probably only about a dozen or so kids. I don't see how anywhere near 50 could possibly participate.

Carissa and I wandered around a bit. Ryan was pretty fussy (we've been doing a lot lately and he hasn't been napping except in the car), so we didn't stay too long. I'm glad we went though. It was nice to get out and see the market. It was of course fun to hang out with Carissa. :)

Photo

This morning I opened the door for Ryan to get in the car. He crawled into the driver's seat! He hadn't done that before (at least not that I know of), so I took a couple of pictures.

This is going to be short, since I am tired and want to write when I can do it properly. :)

I would like to point out an error I made back in August. "Birmingham Rocks" is actually, "Brimham Rocks." (I went back and fixed that in my blog and photo album.) Sadly I didn't realize my mistake until driving by them today. I saw the sign and went, "Duh." Oh well. (That would explain why, at the time, I couldn't find any websites about it!) :P

Today Ryan and I went to Middleham Castle with Carissa and Tom and their two boys. That was fun. Photos and details to follow. (This picture of Ryan is from our trip there today.)

Trying to balance getting enough rest with going places and doing things, as well as taking care of Ryan and the house, etc. is hard. It seems like one or two things are always falling behind (usually the house, and/or my blog. Ok, actually it's usually getting enough rest!).

Hope to catch up soon, and hope everyone is having a great weekend!

A couple of items about my Scarborough post: First, as I wrote that I'd never been to a boardwalk, I just knew I would get called on it. :) It's not that I set out to outright lie, it's just that I didn't really remember the experience. As you may have seen in the comments for that post, my mom pointed out that she and my aunt took me to the boardwalk in Santa Cruz when I was little. I DO remember that - vaguely. I also think I may have been to a boardwalk type place near Boston in the summer of 2000 while visiting my sister-in-law. So when I said I'd never been to a boardwalk, I meant I'd never been to an honest-to-goodness, Jersey boardwalk. :)

The second item comes under the category of: reactions-to-things-I-least-expected. When I got home and showed Larry my photos from Scarborough, he looked at the one I took of the menu board and commented on the "beans on toast" part. The next day, I had a comment from my mom on the same thing! :)

Back to catching up...

Friday the 29th was another busy day. Over here you have to have your gas inspected once a year. The inspector was supposed to come around 9:30am, but didn't show up until 10am. It was only a half hour later, but I still hate waiting around for stuff like that. When the man did show up, he basically insulted Americans living here by saying that we keep our houses too warm. Nice.

After that, I tried to go for a jog (with Ryan in the jogging stroller), but I just didn't have it in me. I went home and got cleaned up, then got myself and Ryan some lunch. I needed to go to the commissary and bx, so I did that. I still needed to shop for the baby shower I was going to the next day, so once home, Ryan and I walked into town and did some shopping. By the time we got home, I was pretty tired. Add to that, that Ryan didn't really nap. By the end of the night, I was fried!

The next day was just as hectic, if not more so! :) In the morning, Ryan and I drove back to Manchester to pick up Larry from his short tdy in Germany. Not long after we got home, I went to my friend Natasha's baby shower, which was very nice. Larry kindly agreed to watch Ryan. (We thought Ryan would nap so Larry could just relax. Unfortunately, this would not be the case.) Towards the end of the shower, Larry called to tell me there was no heat or hot water in our house. Not good, especially because of the weather here. It was getting pretty cold in the house. The pilot light on our boiler was out, and we couldn't figure out how to get it relit. Boilers and gas are definitely something you don't want to mess with! Larry was able to get a hold of our landlord, who said he'd come by in the morning to check it out. In the meantime...

Larry informed me that Ryan had climbed out of his crib while I was at the shower. It seemed we couldn't put off the transition any longer. Larry went ahead and converted Ryan's crib into a toddler bed. (It was a huge pain, too.)

I felt bad for Ryan, because all in one day he had his Daddy come back from being gone, then had his crib taken away, then had his Mama gone - twice (and the second time I was gone for bedtime). Where was I...?

That night I went to my very first barn dance! The Harrogate Harriers hosted a "Barn Dance and Hog Roast" at the Ripley Star Club. I was worried about Ryan and Larry - Larry being tired from his tdy and his long day, and Ryan spending his first night in his "new" bed.  That was probably why I accidentally drove out to Ripon, which is way farther out than Ripley! I was driving around Ripon looking for the Star Club, when I stopped to ask for directions to the... Ripley Star Club. It hit me what I'd done, and I felt like an idiot! Luckily, the people I'd stopped were really nice about it!

I turned back and went to Ripley, which is an extremely small village. Seriously small. We're talking about a quarter mile from one end of the main street to the other. And I couldn't find the Star Club. I asked directions, and luckily was pretty much right next to it. It was one of those places that if you weren't local, you'd never see it, or know where it was. From the outside, it looked more like a church than a club. On the inside it looked like a very small school auditorium, with a stage at one end where the band was playing. (The name of the band was, "Cobblers Wax!")

I arrived late, and a dance was in full swing. I saw a man I knew named Pat, and made my way over to him. He's a fellow American who has also spent time in Germany. We had talked a bit before. He's quite nice. He found me a place to sit, very kindly got me something to drink, and  introduced me to a couple of women who work out at MHS.

I went ahead and joined in the next dance. The band leader had a microphone and taught everyone the dance. I had no idea what I was doing! It was so much fun! A lady I've run with a couple of times, Rona, was quite helpful, literally pushing us in the right direction and telling us what we needed to do when we got lost. At first the dances seemed kind of complicated, but after doing a couple of them, they started to make sense. I thoroughly enjoyed doing them!

After a while, the roast hog was brought out. I really, really ought to be a vegetarian on principle. People applauded the presentation of the hog, and I couldn't help but think that the hog probably wasn't too pleased! :) Everyone lined up to get some food. There were a couple of boys around the age of seven who were sitting at our table (they belonged to the ladies I was sitting with). They were talking about watching the man take out the hog's spine, and one boy asked his mother if he could keep the hog's head. Yikes! Boys! Is this what I have to look forward to??? :)

There were some wonderfully soft rolls to put the pork on, along with applesauce and some overcooked stuffing. The man serving the hog asked me if I wanted some, "cracklin'," which was the skin. I said sure. Once back at the table, I took a bite of the cracklin' and realized that the thought of eating pig skin grossed me out, and one bite was all I managed. (It tasted pretty much like crunchy bacon, but not nearly as good.)

The price of the ticket to the dance was 14 pounds. (Drinks not included.) After seeing the food, I thought it was honestly a bit steep. However, there was a live band, and I did very much enjoy myself, so that was definitely worth it.

Cobbler's Wax advertised themselves as a "ceilidh" band. (Pronounced, "KAY-lee," believe it or not.) I'm not sure if a ceilidh and a barn dance are the same or not, but I'm guessing if not, they're pretty close. It was nice because people of literally all ages were there, and everybody dances with everybody. I'm told that the dances we did are similar to American square dances. (However, since I never square danced except in elementary school, I don't really have any experience to compare it to.)

All in all, I had a good time and would go to another one.

Around 10pm I went home, since I was really tired and was wondering how Larry and Ryan were doing. Ripley isn't far from Harrogate, so it was nice not to have far to drive.

Apparently Ryan did pretty well while I was gone. He took a little coaxing, but generally his first night in his toddler bed went well.

Sunday morning our landlord, Sandy, came by. It took Sandy and Larry a while, but between the two of them they got the boiler relit. It was actually a very simple process once they figured it out, it was just figuring it out that was tough! (We have instructions for our boiler, but they are very technical and not at all straightforward.) At least now we know what to do if it happens again. The kicker is that the gas inspector's inspection was what caused the pilot light to go out. I think it was negligent of him to not bother to mention to me that that could happen, and that he didn't ask me if I knew how to relight it if it did. Oh well.

The rest of the day we just tried to kick back and relax. At some point Larry went for a run. Ryan and I went to ASDA for a couple things, and hit Starbucks as well. Since the weather was semi-decent, for dinner we barbecued one last time.

I've got more to post, but it's getting late and today's been a long day, too. Hopefully Ryan will nap tomorrow and I can finish catching up!

Thursday we got up before 5am to take Larry to the airport in Manchester for his tdy to Germany. (It's about an hour and forty-five minutes from Harrogate to Manchester airport.) That day there was also a babysitting co-op meeting/outing at Monk Park Farm. Ryan and I got back from dropping Larry off a little after 9am. I had some things to take care of before heading back out for the 11am meeting. I didn't quite make it on time! :) Luckily, Monk Park Farm isn't too big, and Sarah hadn't been waiting there long. (Actually, it turned out the only people there from the co-op were Sarah, her two boys (Henry and Winston), and a friend visiting from the States, me and Ryan, and one other family.) The Farm wasn't far from Harrogate, maybe less than half an hour's drive or so. It was a really nice day for a visit there. It was sunny, but cool.

The Farm had a few different areas. In front was a café/gift shop, as well as a building with animals inside (piglets, chicks, cows, goats, and chinchillas). Behind that was a large picnic/play area, which Ryan thoroughly enjoyed! The was a huge sandbox, which was really more like a dirt box. Ryan got filthy, of course! Next were large fenced off areas with various animals in them (cows, sheep, small horses, etc.). There were goats wandering around loose, which was funny because they would hang out on top of the picnic tables! At the entrance of the park you could buy bags of feed for 50 pence. I bought one, and if you shook it, it was like shaking a can of Pounce for cats. The goats would come running!

Beyond that area, was a little gazebo leading to a duck pond, then around that was a small play area and a nice scenic path to wander on. There were yet more animals, such as wallabies and emus.

Mostly I just let Ryan run around the play area while I fed the goats. (All the animals would pretty much just eat out of your hand!) Ryan LOVED the sandbox and the slides the best. He strongly objected to being put in his stroller when I wanted to walk around and explore more of the park (without losing Ryan).

At one point, I was taking pictures and for that nanosecond, not paying attention to Ryan. He was at a dead run for a nearby pond. Of course! I ran and caught him just in time. He just did NOT understand why he couldn't go in. I wished I could have explained it to him (I tried, but it didn't seem to help!). He took it out on the water fowl by chasing them around.

After a while, we got some lunch in the café, then checked out the animals in the building. There was an enormous mother pig they let loose, but unfortunately my camera picked then to have its batteries die. :( I don't know that Ryan was all that interested in the animals, but he seemed to enjoy trying to climb into the chinchilla enclosure, and putting the plastic kiddie chairs into straight lines. Weird! (I've read and been told that this is normal toddler behavior. Wish Ryan could tell me why he likes to do it, though!)

All in all, it was a nice time. (Here's the website for the park: http://www.monkpark.co.uk/)

Click here for the photos!

Monk Park Farm

I can't wrap my head around the fact that we're over a week into autumn, and it's October already.

Wednesday, Sept. 27, Ryan and I went to Scarborough with our friends Carissa and Tom, their boys Thomas and Nathan, and Tom's parents, Larry and Wendy (visiting from the States). Ryan and I walked to the train station, where we met up with everyone. Then we all took a train to York, where we switched trains for Scarborough.

The train ride was nice and relaxing. All the kiddos were well behaved. Yay! :) It was nice not to have to drive. It took a couple of hours to get from Harrogate to Scarborough.

Once at Scarborough, we walked around for a while. I still laugh when I see signs that say things like, "Humped Zebra Crossing!" (Just the British way of saying, "Crosswalk with Speed Bump.") We wound up going through the suburbs by accident, which was fine since it was a nice day. It was interesting to see the various places people lived. I like that people have little signs on their homes, like the one we saw proclaiming, "Al's Place." There's a castle in Scarborough (which we didn't visit) that we got a nice view of from the top of a hill. Also because of our route, we got to see a B&B with palm trees - yes, that's right - PALM TREES! Something I never thought I'd see in the UK.

We finally made our way to the North Bay. (Scarborough has a North and South Bay. The North is more for enjoying the beach, while the South is more commercial.) All the little concession stands and shops were boarded up. It was only four days after the official end of summer!

The North bay was really neat though. There was a good view of the castle up on the bluff, and the tide was very much out, so there was a lot of real estate for Ryan to run around on. (There was an area down the shore a little that looked like it would be great for tide pooling, if the kids had been a little older.)

The weather was mostly overcast, which made everything kind of grey. It was a little cold from the breeze coming off the sea, but otherwise wasn't too bad. Ryan kept his jacket on all day though. The sun did peek out a little towards the end of our visit to the North Bay, which temporarily warmed things up a bit.

Ryan absolutely LOVED running around. We all hung back a bit while the boys ran around (Thomas is about six months younger than Ryan, while Nathan is still an infant.) I was taking pictures, and suddenly realized that Ryan was at a dead run right for the water. Tom realized this at about the same time. We both took off at a dead run of our own, reaching Ryan right as he reached the water. I honestly don't know if Ryan would have stopped. That child has no fear! Luckily all was well. I really appreciated Tom coming with me, just in case. It's always good to have backup!

Of course at some point Ryan had to do a full length body plant onto the wet sand! Unfortunately he'd already gone through the extra pair of pants I'd brought along. I did have a dry towel, which helped things along.

After a while (and with much protestation from Ryan), we packed up and took a bus to South Bay. I've never really been to a boardwalk in the States. From what I've been told, this part of Scarborough was something similar. I would describe the area as, "delightfully tacky!" There was a little area on the sea side of things that had carnival type rides. A little further up was a row of concession stands. In between were glimpses of the docks. There was one concession stand that caught my eye. The first time I went by it, I just saw that they sold candy. Then Carissa made a comment about its other wares. I went back and wondered how on earth I'd managed to miss the *cough* "adult" candy on sale! What blew my mind a little was that it was mixed right in with all the other candy. There was a "Large Manhood" sucker hanging right next to a Winnie the Pooh! After being overseas for so long, it didn't really surprise me THAT much. But still... On the other side of the street were tacky looking gift shops and restaurants. It was all very colorful. At one shop, I bought Ryan a pinwheel. His face lit up like a Christmas tree! It's the little things. ;)

From there we wandered around some more. It was quite a trek back up to the city center, where we were hoping to find "Scarborough Fair." We eventually stopped at the local TI (Tourist Info. center) and got directions. We got to the "fair" at 4:20pm. It didn't open until 5pm! The "fair" was just one huge midway of tacky rides. I wasn't really surprised. Earlier, Carissa had told me that the "Scarborough Fair" of old hasn't happened in a very long time. (It used to be a harvest festival/market.) Now, they have the "fun fair" (as the signs called it) in a sort of commemoration of the original fair.

We wandered through and made our way back to the train station (after a stop at a bakery for a bite). The way home was pretty decent, except Ryan really reached the end of his rope. He was tired from not really napping, and just wanted off the train. Larry picked us up at the station in Harrogate, which was nice since it was dark and drizzling when we got there.

I'm so glad we went to Scarborough. We had a good time, and now I can say I've been there!

Scarborough

First, I would like to wish my friend Marie a very happy birthday!

Second, I would like to say that I have had very little time to relax, or be on the computer in the last couple of daze. :) However, it's been a good kind of busy, going places and doing things. I hope everyone is having a great weekend, and hope in a day or two to begin catching up.

Scarborough was fun!

Today we were up before 5am to take Larry to the airport in Manchester. (He has a short tdy in Darmstadt, Germany. He'll be back Saturday. He got in today just fine.) About an hour after we got home from dropping Larry off, we went to Monk Farm Park. That also was fun! Ryan only took cat naps in the car, so I am going to bed right after I post this! :)

I hope to get a chance to write about today and yesterday and post photos soon. (I'm crossing my fingers and knocking on wood!)

PS - Happy birthday, Jason!

First, I want to wish my friend Ronee a happy birthday! Hope it's a great one!

Second, I am just briefly checking in to let everyone know that things have been and will be a bit hectic in the next few days. I do hope to catch up sometime over the weekend. (I know I've been playing catch up for what seems like ages now!)

Tomorrow I am supposed to be going on a day trip with some friends. Thursday I'm taking Larry to the airport, then possibly going to a baby sitting co-op meeting at Monk Farm Park. Friday I think I get to breathe, then Saturday there's a baby shower and a barn dance I'm planning on attending. Whew!

Mainly what I have yet to write about thus far is daily life stuff, and general Ryan cuteness. :)

Hope everyone is having a great week!